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Drive

THIS WEEK’S OTHER FEATURED BOOK, “HUG EVERYONE YOU KNOW,” BY ANTOINETTE MARTIN, CAN BE FOUND BY SCROLLING DOWN BELOW THIS POST, ALONG WITH THE FIRST TUESDAY REPLAY. OR, CLICK THE AUTHOR’S NAME ON OUR AUTHOR PAGE.

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THE BOOK: Drive

PUBLISHED IN: September 2017

THE AUTHOR: Don Tassone

THE EDITOR: Betsy Delmonico

THE PUBLISHER: Golden Antelope Press

SUMMARY: Nick Reynolds is a highly successful food company executive. He’s also a bully, feared by his employees and estranged from his wife and children. After his latest blow-up at work, Nick’s boss orders him to take the summer off and sort himself out. Angry and despondent, Nick sets off alone from his home in Chicago for Bar Harbor, Maine.

This is the story of what Nick experiences, learns and chooses along the way. It is a colorful and moving portrait of a man who must rediscover who he is and decide whether he can go on.

THE BACK STORY: In my career, I knew hundreds of men like Nick Reynolds. Seemingly successful men who struggled with society’s expectations of them and their own self-identity, who were burned out, who had lost their way. These men are everywhere. And yet there are few contemporary novels devoted to such men and those who care about them. So I wrote this book. I hope it speaks to people and serves as a reminder that, no matter our chal-lenges, there is always an opportunity for renewal.

WHY THIS TITLE: It’s a double entendre. Nick is a driven man. It is also what he does for most of the story. I also have an affinity for pithy titles.

WHY SOMEONE WOULD WANT TO READ IT:

This is what one reader posted on Amazon:

“Don Tassone’s debut novel is a spiritual guide and a cautionary tale that is perfectly tuned for the lives so many of us live today. It’s a story about choices and conse-quences, relationships and redemption, and hard-fought personal discovery. This is a truly wonderful book that accomplishes what the best literature always does: it helps us see ourselves and our world with a fresh perspective that challenges our assumptions and inspires genuine reflection. Time and time again, Drive provokes readers to pause and explore what protagonist Nick Reynolds’ journey reveals about our own lives. I finished it with a sense of fierce urgency to take stock of my own choices and ensure I’m living the life I intend to live. It’s a story that will stay with me for a long time to come. I recommend it highly. The busier you are, the more you need to make time for this nove.”

I can’t really add to that.

REVIEW COMMENTS:

“One of the biggest challenges I have with certain clients is convincing them to take a vacation from the platitudes and dogmas that have enslaved them. You’re dealing with egos and, with egos, the answer to everything is ‘more me.’ Sometimes the situation calls for less you. After years of corporate drudgery, Drive’s Nick Reynolds has finally reached the breaking point in a profit-and-loss life and goes on the lam from his own ex-istence. Tassone’s adventures in the realm of big business give him the credentials to examine a man pushed over the edge by everyday stresses. He also has the sly voice to make readers wonder how it will all end for Nick in the same manner we wonder the same thing about ourselves.” — Eric Dezenhall, author of Glass Jaw

“When I first read Don Tassone’s collection of stories, Get Back, I enjoyed them so much that I was eager to read his novel. Drive did not disappoint. Tassone has the rare ability to make the reader actually enjoy spending time with a central character who at first seems so arrogant and abrasive. That’s impressive.” — Joanna Marshall, Retired Professor of English Literature, University of Puerto Rico

AUTHOR PROFILE: Don Tassone has a passion for the written word. He has a degree in English. After a long career in the corporate world, Don has returned to his creative writing roots. His debut short story collection, Get Back, and debut novel, Drive, were published in 2017. Don also teaches at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four children.

AUTHOR COMMENTS: I write to make people think and feel more deeply. I hope Drive does that.